Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua North's Curtis Harris waltzes into the end zone past Spaulding's Kevin Casey (5) and Titan blocker Ed Bracet.

The biggest doctor’s appointment of the 2019 local high school football season likely takes place today or Tuesday.

Yes, the Nashua High School North football team, and its fans, are holding their collective breath awaiting the outcome on an examination of Titan quarterback Curtis Harris’ left knee.

It will impact not only North but perhaps the rest of Division I. Harris hurt the knee being tackled on a short run with 3:20 left in the third quarter of the Titans’ 31-19 win over Merrimack. North is now 8-0 and has clinched the West Conference title and top seed in the East-West playoff cluster, regardless of what happens in its season finale this Friday at 3-5 Portsmouth.

But oh, things could be much different in the playoffs if Harris can’t play. Of course with any knee injury the fear is an ACL, but that seemed to unofficially be low on the danger list for Harris. But there’s no sense in any speculation until he is examined.

Harris was able to walk afterward, but more gingerly as time went on after he left the game.

“It keeps my mindset good that hopefully it’s not as bad as I think it was,” Harris said. “My left knee, I landed on it after I got tackled. … They said they don’t think it’s that bad.”

And, as Titans coach Dante Laurendi said when seeing Harris be able to walk off the field under his own power, “I don’t know, we’ll have to see how much of that is ‘He’s a tough kid, a competitor, he wants to get off the field.’ We’ll leave that up to the doctors, see what they say and hope for

the best.”

Merrimack, now 5-3, could be the team that North first meets in the playoffs, a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal won by the Tomahawks, with this one at

Stellos Stadium.

But to get that spot the Tomahawks would need to beat 1-7 Winnacunnet at home this Friday.

Right now, if one closely examines the tiebreakers should Nashua South (currently 6-2), Merrimack and Bishop Guertin (both 5-3) all tie at 6-3, the Cards might be the odd team out.

South will likely face East Conference champion Exeter on the road, regardless of whether it wins or loses when facing Exeter this Friday night at Stellos.

“We knew we’d have to win at least one of the next two games,” Jackson said. “We didn’t win this one, so we have to win the next one.”

NASHUA NORTH

Laurendi gathered the players together after the game and told them now was the time for every player to contribute.

“I love that we were getting contributions from a lot of people,” Laurendi said of the Merrimack win. “I just told our guys we got contributions from guys who weren’t starters at the beginning of the year. We got contributions from guys who weren’t on our varsity roster at the beginning of the year, in all phases of the game.

“What we need to work on is we can’t have a lot of self

inflicted wounds….We have to be able to play smarter and more disciplined at times.”

He was lamenting penalties (roughing the passer) and some special teams mistakes (big kick return). Meanwhile, Laurendi said that his QB options are many. Friday night both Jayden Espinal and Andy Barry, a sophomore, played that spot.

“We’ll have to see,” he said. “We’ve had a bunch of guys who have been repping there, either at JV or some backups. Jayden’s taken some reps there, Andy Barry’s done a good job. Like we’ve been saying all year, it’s all hands on deck.”

It’s likely even if Harris were cleared to play he’d be held out as a precaution since Friday’s game is meaningless as far as the postseason is concerned.

“We’ll evaluate,” Laurendi said. “If they say he’s OK, I’m going to have to leave (Harris) home.”

The shock of seeing him get hurt was something the Titans had to immediately deal with.

“It was sad,” North lineman Max Ackerman said. “We’re a team. We’re going to push through this. We’ve got adversity now. … We’ve had a lot of injuries this year. It hurts everything. But we’re going to come together as a team.”

Of course, for Harris, the fear of injury could always be there as he handles the ball so much on offense and plays hard on defense.

“I don’t think about injury at all,” Harris said. “I just hope to move forward and that’s it.”

And Harris will move forward, if healthy, with the No. 1 seeded team in the cluster, which is something Laurendi said he tried hard not to think about as it grew closer.

“You just try and take a week to week thing,” he said, “because if you look at the whole schedule in one shot, it’s kind of overwhelming because you know everybody you’re going to play is going to be real tough. And especially later on, everybody’s in the same boat. I don’t think anybody’s at full strength. …

“It just gets tougher.”

MERRIMACK

The Tomahawks, meanwhile, suffered their own injury loss on Friday as quarterback/running back James Dowling hurt his ankle and actually looked worse off than Harris as he needed help to slowly get off the field in the fourth quarter.

“He hurt his ankle, hopefully he’ll be ready for next week, and we’ll go from there,” Jackson said.

Dowling was very effective in his dual Tomahawk role. In the second half he became more of a running back while Kyle Crampton took over QB duties. Dowling from the running back position in the second half rushed for 45 yards on just six carries and threw a 75-yard TD pass on a halfback option play. His loss would be significant if he’s unable to play going forward just because of his versatility.

Meanwhile, Jackson is hoping Crampton got valuable experience on Friday night.

“The best play he made was the scramble (for 20 yards),” Jackson said. “It’s amazing how fast you can run when you’re a little scared, so I’m glad that happened. Now he knows he can gain positive yardage. He’ll get on the carpet (slide) next time.”

Jackson liked the way his team hung tough down 31-7 at halftime Friday.

“We were going to battle til the end,” he said. “They did a great job of playing in the second half. Unfortunately, they dug too big a hole in th first half.”

BISHOP GUERTIN

The Cardinals, regardless of what their post season chances are, have also dealt with major injuries – and handled it to the point where they have clinched a winning regualr season.

One player back for Friday’s 14-0 win at Spaulding was junior wideout/defensive back Brendan Callahan. He’d been ill but also had experienced knee woes, but was a player to be reckoned with Friday.

“He was finally back and played the whole game,” Cards coach John Trisciani said. “He had a great game in coverage on defense and had multiple third down catches.”

Guertin is hoping to get the other key component of its receiving game and secondary, Joey Lupo, back for Saturday night’s regular season finale at Stellos Stadium vs. Dover. The Cards will likely know by then if they still have a playoff shot with a win.

NASHUA SOUTH

The West-East playoff block has caused a strange scenario in which the Panthers are already locked into their postseason fate. They will head to Exeter in two weeks to face the West champs.

Friday, the Blue Hawks make the trip down 101 to play at Stellos on South’s senior night, a regular season finale that means very little.

So, if you are coach Bill Ball or Scott Knight, how do you play this one?

There is a school of thought that says make it a JV game, so no key players get hurt. There is little chance of that happening, especially on South’s big night for the upperclassmen playing their final home game.

“I would certainly prefer to not play the same team two weeks in a row,” said Knight, the South boss. “Next week is going to be like a sparring session for the big bout. We’re going to play to win. Ask Billy, and think he’d say the same think.”

By the way, there was a wink from Knight, following the words, “we’re going to play to win.”

DIVISION II PLAYOFF RACE

There is good news for Souhegan. With the win over West and the help from Pelham against Saint Thomas, the Sabers now control their playoff destiny.

The bad news is they have to hit the road and face Division II’s only unbeaten – Bow – which has outscored the opposition 305-27 this year. …

Interesting to note that staring down the barrel of Souhegan, Alvirne and Saint Thomas, Hollis Brookline coach Chris Lones said, “I think we are going to run the table.”

The Cavs are two-thirds of the way home, but with Saint Thomas playing for its postseason life, don’t expect that one to come easily.

Bow (8-0), Milford (7-1), Alvirne (6-2), Hollis Brookline (6-2), Pelham (6-2), Plymouth (6-2) and Kennett (6-2) will all be playjng in November.